A road unexplored- Experiences in The Heritage School

A road unexplored
Meeta Mohanty

Published in Teacher Plus in September'2009 issue

‘Life after 3’ is hardly conceived by a teacher as her personal time. It is not unusual to see teachers carrying loads of notebooks or paper bundles for correction almost every other day. Although teaching is considered a half-day job, it is actually challenging and exhausting as most teachers will confess. Every year— a new group of 30-40 children and the ownership of their education lies completely in the hands of the teacher who is supposed to have a magic wand and understand each child’s potential, hone their skills, groom them on good values and turn them into sensitised citizens. Phew! the list is unending when it comes to expectations from the teacher.
However, it is noteworthy to have a close look at the teacher and what kind of support mechanisms s/he gets to nurture the individuality of children. How much of his/ her individuality forms a part and parcel of the school system? I would certainly like to add that though schools have begun to pay attention to the teacher’s professional development in the form of organising seminars and workshops for his/ her enrichment, personal development still remains a road unexplored in many schools.
I used to be a part of an alternative school system where a lot of personal attention was paid to the ‘making of the teacher’ in the real sense. A year and a half ago, I was a facilitator at The Heritage School, Gurgaon which happens to be a school with practices in favour of teachers and students. It is important to upgrade the quality of living of teachers to actually impact the quality of learning in classrooms. Below I have highlighted only a few examples of some teacher-support mechanisms—
· Induction support: As a teacher ushers into a school, s/he is usually clueless about the school system and takes time to settle down and understand the classroom processes. At The Heritage School, Gurgaon, this need is understood and every teacher who enters afresh is given a settlement time to know her/his duties, observe the class- s/he shall be responsible for. A peer- teacher acts as a mentor in guiding the new teacher about the class and introduces her to the parent community through emails, meetings, etc.

· Peer-observations: Teachers at The Heritage School, are free to observe each others’ classes and gain from such observations. Peer-observations are an ongoing voluntary mechanism and do not involve any stress or performance pressure. There is room for all to learn from his/her errors.

· Retreat: Besides ongoing professional development, there are retreats organised for teachers. These retreats span over two to three days and are planned generally in natural spaces where some adventure sports can be organised for teachers. During the retreat, teachers from different class segments commune together as a group, unwind and share their experiences. A lot of resources are invested in personal development and in building teacher community as a coherent whole.
Collective lesson planning and problem solving: This forms the backbone of the teaching community at The Heritage School. Collective lesson planning and reflective sessions, interspersed with hot debates on education, on righteousness of content, pedagogy, etc. form the core component of the teaching-learning process. Day-to-day lesson planning, theme planning, and problem solving is key. If one teacher is facing a difficult situation in her classroom, the entire group/ cohort of teachers support him/ her in troubleshooting. There is support from the management in troubleshooting problems. Every individual is given space to grow, learn from his/ her errors and not operate under any kind of pressure.

Teacher Leadership: The concept of teacher leadership is completely visible in the school—where s/he has a free choice to plan lessons, be him/herself, plan the day, think and discuss what is best for children. Undoubtedly, curriculum in this school is developed by the teachers and assessments are also formative in nature- with portfolio assessment forming one of the key ways of assessing in primary school.

Only an empowered teacher can bring about empowered classrooms. Learning can only take place when teachers and the whole system undergoes transformation. To expect a teacher who is shattered or disintegrated in an obtrusive, compulsive system to bring about change and develop personalities is too demanding a situation. Thus, systemic changes are important and mandatory in the wake of a call for learning-centred classrooms.

The author works with the Oxford University Press, New Delhi. She can be reached at meetaprabir@gmail.com